Arthritis Pain Remedies by Archi Mackfly - HTML preview

Tip #2: Hot & Cold Treatments

One of the main natural treatments for arthritis include hot and cold treatments. There are several different types of arthritis so make sure to ask your doctor which will be better for your specific symptoms.

Cold Therapy helps to reduce joint swelling and inflammation. This type of treatment is most often recommended to rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, but can help others as well.

You can alternate hot and cold treatments as needed but always monitor how your skin reacts and adjust or discontinue as needed.

Cold treatments should be limited to 20-minute sessions. Here are several cold treatments used:

• Use a cloth covered bag of ice applied to the painful area.
• Submerge the joint in an ice bath.

NOTE: Check with a physician before submerging, especially if it is a large area of the body.

• Simple cold packs kept in fridge or freezer, applied when needed.

Heat therapy is often good for all other types of arthritis, as well as, in conjunction with cold treatments. The heat relaxes your muscles and helps blood flow to the affected area.

Heat treatments should be monitored and adjusted depending upon your body's reaction.

Here are several heat treatments widely used by arthritis sufferers:

• Start your day with a hot bath or shower to get your blood flowing and joints relaxed.
• A warm paraffin wax to affected joints. (This can often be done by a professional to monitor wax temperature.)
• Apply a heating pad, heat pack, or other warm heat source to the affected joints.

Always make sure, when using heat therapy, to maintain a comfortable level of heat.

Hot tubs are also excellent ways to cover larger areas of the body, but always check with your physician first as they can be dangerous for those with certain health conditions.